Watchdog

►NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sat down with INSIDE THE NFL host James Brown to discuss issues surrounding the league.

(On league policy on player misconduct and Cincinnati bringing back Chris Henry undermining the goals of that policy)

Goodell: I don’t believe so JB. All of our personnel, including players, coaches and everyone involved in the NFL understand what is expected of them when they are involved with the NFL. Chris has obviously made some mistakes. Young people make mistakes. Our point is, don’t make critical mistakes repeatedly. And I think Chris understands that this is his last opportunity. And I’m rooting for him. I hope that he will succeed. He also needs to understand that he’s run out of rope with respect to future mistakes.

(On the NFL recently hiring a “gang expert”)

Goodell: We’ve long had a policy that when you’re on the field in the NFL, you’re there to represent the NFL and you’re not there to send personal messages. We consider that a personal message. It’s also one that sends the wrong message. Our fields are not for that type of activity and we’ve made it clear to players that we don’t want to see that. Since we are not aware of all the gang signals, we thought we needed to get some expertise in that area.

(On passing of Gene Upshaw, labor issues, and three key issues relating to owners)

Goodell: Gene is a big loss as an individual. What a great man he was. He’s certainly contributed more than any one single individual I know to the game of football. We are working with our clubs right now to focus on what are the priorities of the ownership. What has happened right now is our system is 60% of the gross but the cost of generating that revenue continues to grow at a rapid rate and there’s no recognition of that. The second is that there are a number of system issues that need to be addressed. And into that falls the rookie pool. That is something that we’ve been quite outspoken about. The last thing would be our retired players. We do believe that the retired players need to be addressed in a responsible fashion. They are the men who helped build the game. We all owe a debt of gratitude and we should be responsible to them.

(On reducing numbers of preseason games and adding to the roster)

Goodell: Clearly if we were going to expand the regular season and reduce the preseason, part of that whole evaluation would be what we do in the off-season. How do we prepare our players? And how do we make sure that they are in the best possible condition to play football and make it safe for them? One of the things that would go along with an expanded regular season, from 16 to 17 or 18 games, would be expanded rosters. I think that is appropriate and something that we would engage in dialogue with the union.

(On owners agreeing to reduce the number of preseason games)

Goodell: It’s something that we are evaluating. Everyone recognizes that the quality of the preseason is not up to NFL standards. That has been a focus I have had with ownership over the last year. I think there is recognition of that within the ownership. On the other hand, it is something that we need to address for our fans. It’s not meeting those standards and our fans are asking us to address that and make sure that it is higher quality football. The opportunity to take, what I think is lower quality standards for the NFL and turn that into a regular-season game and make that exciting football is something that is appealing. I think our ownership will go along with that. The reality is that the players are a big benefit of that also because they get 60% of the gross.

►INSIDE THE NFL Opening Comments

(On Matt Cassel replacing injured New England quarterback Tom Brady)

Phil Simms:

We know the offense is not going to be the same. I think everybody agrees on that. You lose, arguably, the best player in the league, it’s going to change things. But I say this, when you’re a quarterback at the college or pro level, you need an opportunity. You need it to fall your way some times. Think of Matt Cassel. He was at USC. Matt Leinart wins the job from him. If he wins that job, goes on and has a good career at USC…he would’ve been a high first round draft pick. So, it didn’t work there. But can he overcome the toughest thing of all for a quarterback, lack of experience. If he can settle in, I believe he can get a chance.

Cris Collinsworth:

And if I had muscles I could be Mr. Universe. The last game that Matt Cassel played quarterback in as a starter was in high school. Now, I’m not saying that he may not be a star some day and may be able to take this great Rolls Royce of a football team…and create something that works. I’ll tell you, it’s a stretch for me right now to sit and there and go, hey the New England Patriots are going to be fine and this is going to be okay. We watched the tapes. He was okay. It wasn’t a train wreck or anything. But, he wasn’t much better than okay in that game last week.

Warren Sapp:

When you’re playing for the New England Patriots and you’re the quarterback, it might be all you have to be is okay. Put the ball in the playmakers’ hands, the Faulks, the Mosses, and let them do what they do. That defense and special teams are coming to play. I guarantee you that. The difference is, just don’t wreck the Rolls Royce – just don’t wreck it.

(On New England visiting the New York Jet)

Simms:

The biggest thing is, for the Patriots, how will they adapt? Just like the Jets last week – a new quarterback coming in, and put in to live game action. To me, that’s the hardest thing to overcome. How to manage your football team? How to manage the quarterback? What do you do? If the New England Patriots can overcome that, and they make a pretty good transition this week, then look out.

Collinsworth:

Brett (Favre) was sensational. He looked like the guy that was the runner-up MVP from a season ago. I’m not sure the Jets, as a team, are anywhere close to where the Patriots team is, but I think this team is going to get better and better and better as the season goes on.